Cistern or well cleaner.



PATENTED JULY 18,1905.

L. LEGGBTT. GISTBRN OR WELL CLEANER.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.26,1904.

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bro/794,806, PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

L. LEGGETT.

GISTERN 0R WELL CLEANER.

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" STATES Patented July 18, 1905.

LEROY LEGGETT, OF SIDNEY, IOWA.

CISTERN OR WELL CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,806, dated. July 18, 1905. Application filed April 26, 1904. Serial No. 205,023.

dirt and sediment from wells and cisterns without stirring up the mud and diffusing it throughout said well or cistern.

My invention consists in the, construction, arrangement, and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective illustrating my device in folded or collapsed condition adapted to be inserted in a well or cistern. Fig. 2 is a perspective, partly in section, showing my device as required for practical use. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of portions of my device. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of the device. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the lower portion of the device.

In the construction of the device as shown the numeral designates an ingress-pipe, which isformed with a valve-seat 27 in its upper end.

The numeral 1 1 designates an egress or discharge pipe, and bolts 30 connect thepipe 11 to the pipe 10, so that the lower open end portion of the egress-pipe is located between the ends and on the periphery of the inletpipe. A screen 25 is mounted rigidly on the inlet-pipe 10 and surrounds the lower end portion of the egressipe 11; but the open upper end portion of t e inlet-pipe is outside said screen. A bracket 13 is mounted on and fixed to the pipes 10 11 and is formed with sliding bearings adapted to receive the valve-rod 12, mounted for reciprocation therein. A valve 14 is mounted on the lower end portion of the rod 12 and normally engages the valve-seat 27 of the pipe 10. A tank 10 is provided and is formed with a hopper-bottom with a circular aperture in its apex in which the inlet-pipe 10 is mounted. A 1ock-nut 9 is mounted on the lower end portion of the inlet-pipe 10 and serves to connect said pipe and the hopper-bottom of the tank 10 rigidly yet removably, the screen 25 limiting movement of the pipe and tank relative to each other in one direction in opposition to said nut. The tank 10 is provided with a removable and replaceable cover 22, and said cover is formed with an aperture 32, through which the up er portion of the egress-pipe 11 extends. X pumppipe or well-tube 28 is connected to the upper end portion of the egress-pipe 11 by a coupling 31. Another aperture 23 is formed in the cover 22, and the valve-rod 12 extends through said aperture and is provided with an air-valve 15, adapted to close said aperture at times. rises from the valve-rod 12 and is adapted for manual actuation to lift said rod and the valves 14 15 thereon. Aspring 26 is mounted on and tends to depress the valve-rod 12' to seat the valve 14 on the upper end portion 27 of the pipe 10. A box 6 is pivotally mounted on the lower end portion of the inlet-pipe 10, and a box 5 is pivoted to the first box. A head 4 is fixed to the box 5 by bolts or screws 34, and said bolts or screws extend below the lower face of said head and form feet to support the head above the bottom of a well or cistern. The head 4 preferably has sixteen equal plane faces on margin, and flanges 24, preferably made of sheet metal, are fixed to and depend from said faces. Arms 16, preferably formed of spring-wire and looped at their central por- A cord is fixed to and tions, are hinged by said looped central portions to margin portions of the head 4 and extend after the manner of umbrella-ribs from said head and may be oscillated by draft applied to cords 19. Eyes 17 are formed on the arms 16 and are connected in series by draft devices, such as chains 18, to draft-cords 19 19, which draft-cords extend upwardly and are adapted for manual actuation to open or permit the folding of the arms. The outer ends of the arms 16 are turned upward, and a textile cover 29,, preferably of canvas or sail-cloth, is mounted on and fixed at its center to the head 4 and at its outer upturned margin to the upturned outer ends of the arms 16. Cords 35 and 36 are stitched to the cover 29 in such manner as to stiffen said cover against undesirable collapse and hold the outer edge or margin of said cover upturned to revent the upper surface thereof becoming oaded with mud and sediment, the latter cords being below and parallel with the arms 16 to form a waterway underneath the umbrella-base. A valve-seat 8 is formed in the head 4 and is controlled by a gravityoperating check-valve 7, hinged to said head, to break the suction of the umbrella from the bottom of a cistern.

In practical operation the arts are assembled as shown in Fig. 1 an lowered into a well or cistern, and after entering the water in said well or cistern the umbrella-base is opened or expanded into the position shown in Fig, 2 by draft applied to the cords 19 19. While descending into the water in the well or cistern air escapes from and water enters the umbrella-base through the seat-aperture 8 beneath the check-valve 7, and water also passes through the pipe 10 into tank 10 to sink the device. When the device has been properly positioned in the well or cistern,

with the bolts or screws 34 resting on the bottom or as near the bottom as the mud and sediment will permit, draft is applied to I pipe 11 to a suitable place of discharge, the

screen 25 being of such mesh as to permit the passage of mud and sediment, but holding back the trash in the tank 10 to be emptied the tank by pressure-flow from beneath the umbrella-base.

On the removal of the device from a well or cistern it should be cleaned by unscrewing the nut 9 from the pipe 10 and the coupling 31 from the pipe 1 1 and then lifting the cover 22 and pipes out of the tank.

I claim as my invention 1. A well or cistern cleaner, comprising a tank, ingress and egress pipes communicating with said tank, a screen over the communication between said egress-pipe and the tank, a valve adapted for manual control and governing the communication between said ingress-pipe and tank, and a collapsible umbrella device mounted below said tank.

2. A well or cistern cleaner, comprising a flexible, foldable, collapsible umbrella device, formed with an opening at the center thereof, an ingress pipe communicating through said opening, a tank communicating with said ingress-pipe, an egress-pipe leading from said tank, a valve controlling the ingress-pipe and a screen covering the communication between the egress-pi e and tank.

In testimony that'I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiiXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEROY LEGGETT.

Witnesses:

F. E. AsHLY, W. A. WEBsTER. 

